Tonight on The Voice, we got to hear from the four remaining members on Adam and Cee Lo’s teams. I was excited for this because it meant some performances from singers I’ve been rooting for since the beginning. But when I was reminded who was on the teams, I realized that Cee Lo’s choice would be really easy – two of his team members are outstanding, and the other two just haven’t impressed me at all. So Team Adam would bring the unpredictability this week.
I think the coaches should have an inside joke that Carson Daly isn’t in on every week. I liked watching him squirm. As he tried to make sense of their shenanigans at the beginning of the show you could have written a thought bubble above him:
No, he doesn’t.
Team Cee Lo – Jamar Rogers – “It’s My Life”
This song had a lot of meaning for Jamar, who is HIV positive, and it was an interesting choice since the arrangement was changed up a lot. I didn’t like it as much as I liked his cover of the Lenny Kravitz song last time. It was an OK performance, but I think Jamar could do better. My problem was more with a lousy song choice than with Jamar’s raw talent.
Team Adam – Katrina Parker – “Jar of Hearts”
Oh god, I hate this song so much. It’s on the local radio station here ALL THE TIME and for a while I thought it was by Avril Lavigne (it’s not) which only made me hate it more. And by the way, can we talk about the fact that the stylists keep making Katrina look as much like Adele as possible? That’s not her real hair, it’s an Adele wig. It’s bothering me, and it’s not doing her any favors – she’s a lovely singer, but she’s no Adele. This performance got kind of shrill in the middle, and was otherwise OK. She was better than the original.
Team Cee Lo’s Group Performance – “Dancing In The Street”
I might not always like Cee Lo’s song choices for his team, but his group performances are my favorites. This was so fun. What was Jamar wearing?! And Cee Lo’s wig cracked me up.
Team Adam – Mathai – “I’m Like a Bird”
I thought this was a fantastic song choice for Mathai, but she wasn’t super into it. I actually ended up really liking the performance, and if Mathai was uncomfortable with the song I don’t think you could tell. Mathai is by far not the strongest singer in the competition, but she’s my favorite on Adam’s team. Her voice is just OK, but she’s cute and different and with the right song I think she could have a career.
Team Cee Lo – James Massone – “Just The Way you Are”
Noooo. I love this song, and I’m sorry, but James is awful. The poor kid. He seems sweet, but he is in so far past his depth. I mean, how many notes did he miss here? All of them? OK no, but half at least. I was physically uncomfortable during this performance. I hear better singing every week at karaoke.
Team Adam – Tony Lucca – “Hit Me Baby, One More Time”
I’ve actually heard people do rock covers of this song a couple of times, and it’s worked out. So even though the performance was touted as really risky (and it was), I was excited. The background dancers were kind of stupid, but I liked Tony’s vocals. I think it’s probably my favorite performance that he’s done on this show so far. It’s no “Devil Town”, but it was good.
Team Cee Lo – Cheesa – “I Have Nothing”
Cheesa is only 21 years old? Seriously? Oh. I, uh… did not know that. Anyway, sorry Cee Lo – but when you say Cheesa is this generation’s “power vocalist”, I have to respond “Have you seen this Jessica Sanchez kid on American Idol?” Or, you know “Have you heard of this singer called Adele? Or Beyonce? Or Jennifer Hudson?” Anyway… I’m not a big Cheesa fan, and I thought this was just an OK performance. I’m sure she could get a job on a cruise ship or something, but these big Whitney Houston songs just highlight her limitations. She’s very good, but not the best. And you kinda need to be the best to tackle these songs. I’ve watched A LOT of reality TV singing competitions, and I’ve heard much stronger female power singers than Cheesa.
She looked lovely. Like she was going to prom.
Team Adam – Pip – “Somewhere Only We Know”
I like this song choice a lot for Pip, and I liked that he was playing a piano this week. I wish he’d stayed there longer. He lost it when he got up and started moving around, and he started trying to do too many runs. Adam’s advice was to keep it simple, and he should have followed that advice. I wanted to like the performance, but it kind of ended up being a bomb. Sorry, Pip.
Team Adam’s Group Performance – “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)”
You know, I think Adam Levine is kind of an underrated talent. He plays the guitar, piano and drums! That’s kind of cool. Anyway, this was a great song to suit everyone on Adam’s team.
Team Cee Lo – Juliet Simms – “Cryin'”
As soon as I saw what Juliet would be singing, I knew she’d kill it. The performance exceeded my expectations. I LOVE Juliet’s voice, and I also love that she’s such a cool performer on stage. The wings? Awesome. I didn’t love this as much as I did “Roxanne”, but it was damn close. My favorite performance of the night, by far.
Eliminations
So, who did I think deserved to be instantly eliminated? Well, for Team Adam it was an easy choice – I thought Pip was definitely the worst this week, and deserved to be eliminated. The other person I can see getting eliminated this week is Katrina Parker. I like Mathai and want to see her continue, and I thought Tony Lucca was the best on that team this week. For Team Cee LoI also thought it was an easy decision to eliminate James Massone, but I can easily lose Cheesa as well – if she didn’t go tonight, it’ll be tomorrow night.
When all was said and done, Cee Lo (after reading a lengthy, but poetic piece off his phone) chose to eliminate James and Adam chose to eliminate Pip. So, it was exactly as I thought it should be.
So what did you guys think? I don’t think Juliet’s sound is for everyone, so I’m curious to know what others think. And did you guys dig Tony Lucca? What about the others? And do you want to throw your smartphone at Christina Milian every time she says someone to “blowing up on Twitter”?
